Ireland police service modernization program includes facial recognition software

Ireland’s National Police Service (Gardai) will soon have access to facial recognition software as part of a five-year, $225M USD information and communications technology modernization program, according to a report in BreakingNews.ie.

It is expected that by the start of next year, Gardai on patrol will have access to mobile devices which will give them remote access to criminal files.

Last February it was reported that the Gardai had been testing facial recognition software that enables victims of crime or witnesses to more easily identify suspects. The police force had previously seen some success with EVO-Fit software, achieving up to a 74% success rate in correctly identifying suspects that are wanted by law enforcement agencies.